Honoring Skaggs: Angels combine to no-hit Mariners
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels all wore Tyler Skaggs’ No. 45 jerseys as they stood solemnly on the field while his mother, Debbie Hetman, delivered a heartbreakingly perfect strike with her first pitch.
Three incredible hours later, the Angels walked back onto the Angel
Stadium field, some with tears in their eyes.
One by one, they removed those No. 45 jerseys and spread them over the mound until nearly all of the dirt was covered in red.
In between those two melancholy, magical moments, the Angels played their heavy hearts out in their first home game since their beloved pitcher’s death.
Their 13-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday was a combined no-hitter by Taylor Cole and Felix Pena. Mike Trout contributed six RBIs, including a 454-foot homer on the first pitch he saw.
On the day before what would have been Skaggs’ 28th birthday, these astonishing Angels played a practically perfect game with his memory in their minds.
“Tonight was in honor of him,” Trout said. “He was definitely looking over us tonight. He’s probably up there saying we’re nasty. What an unbelievable game to be a part of. I’m speechless. This is the best way possible to honor him tonight. It was pretty crazy.”
The Angels decided last week that they would wear Skaggs’ jersey in their first game back at the Big A, but their tribute ended up exceeding all logic and reasonable expectation. Still reeling from the loss of their left-handed starter early last week in Texas, the Angels somehow blinked away their tears and excelled in every aspect of the game.
“This is obviously the worst thing that could happen for a team,” Trout said. “Emotionally, the team came together. … Tonight, to honor him again obviously opened the wound again. (But) just to be out there where he loved to pitch from, where he dominated and threw that curveball that came from the sky, just to honor him one more time, it meant a lot to me. It was just a great moment for our team to (gather) around the mound and honor him again.”
The Angels emerged from that reverential circle around the mound with a newer, happier memory of this harrowing time in team history.
Los Angeles scored seven runs on eight hits in the first inning alone. Trout crushed a two-run homer to left-center on the first pitch he saw, and the two-time AL MVP appeared to look toward Skaggs’ family in the stands as he crossed the plate after an unusually long home run trot.
Cole was the opener and went two innings, striking out two on 22 pitches. Pena worked the final seven innings — matching a career high — and struck out six with one walk.
“I know he’s here today, and he was looking over us, and he’s definitely a part of this,” said Cole, a 29-year-old reliever making only his 33rd career bigleague appearance. “We love him, we miss him, and we’re always going to be there for him.”
The baseball season’s relentless pace forces the Angels to heal while they play, and they went back to work after a somber All-Star break during which Skaggs was honored at the game in Cleveland.
“I think guys will become emotional again, because it is still very fresh,” manager Brad Ausmus said before the game. “That’s fine. We’re human beings. There’s nothing wrong with that.”